But at yesterday’s international launch event for the Nissan e-NV200 electric van — a vehicle which shares the same 24 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack and 80 kilowatt electric motor found in the Nissan LEAF — we noticed something rather interesting which makes us think Nissan might be rethinking its policy on battery heating and cooling.

The e-NV200, unlike the Nissan LEAF, has a small air conditioner built into its battery pack.

This photo shows a small radiator and a tiny squirrel cage fan behind it, drawing cool or warm air into the battery pack.

The battery pack lives under the floor, helping keep the center of gravity low. Since the e-NV200 was designed from the ground up to handle an electric drive train, there are no battery humps, or rise in floor height etc.